"P-please! Please, no-!"

The man's begging was cut short as the end of Tyrian's tail pierced through his chest, a sickening sound that sent shivers coursing through his veins. He laughed in delight, allowing the man's body to fall to the ground with a wet thump, blood soaking into a wide puddle on the carpet beneath. Tyrian brought the end of the stinger to his lips and licked the tip, tasting the man's blood with a wide grin.

"An unfortunate end for you, dear conductor. Oh, but I am so glad you ignored my warnings not to enter my compartment~" Tyrian gloated down at the dead man.

"Tyrian…"

Tyrian's eyes widened, and he hurriedly returned to his place in front of the Seer, wiping the blood off his tail along the floor as he did, "Forgive my impudence, Your Grace! What is it you wish of so low a servant~?" he bowed his head low as he spoke, placing a hand to his chest and another out to the side.

The cold, commanding tone of his Goddess filtered through, sending another shiver of delight running down his spine, "Cinder's chances leave much to be desired. Head to Vale, and keep an eye on the proceedings. Do not interfere unless her plan fails. If it does, you are free to command my grimm to descend upon the city. No matter what happens, Ozma cannot retain the maiden's power. Finish off Amber, or kill whoever it goes to. We will expend our efforts on tracking down the replacement in her stead."

"By your command, Your Grace," Tyrian continued to bow low, but one glimmering eye peeked out from beneath his bangs, "And Ozma himself~?"

The Goddess's lips pursed in a thin line, "Hazel will be there to assist. Do what you must, and let no shred of his body remain."

A low rumble began in Tyrian's chest, working its way up through his throat and out in a maniacal laugh, only dying once he realized he was keeping the Goddess waiting for his response.

"It would be my eternal pleasure, Your Grace~"

Violet sighed deeply in thought, considering the things Neo and Roman had revealed. Cinder's plans had devolved from trickery and subterfuge into pure terrorism on a city wide scale. With the assistance of the White Fang, Cinder planned on launching large scale attacks on random parts of the city, then spreading them out across increasingly shorter intervals to drum up as much panic as possible. Once that was done, she would demolish portions of Vale's wall and allow the grimm hordes to enter, while also opening up a hole in the center via the train from Mount Glenn.

"You said our time frame is around two months?" Violet spoke up, if only to confirm that fact among all the rest.

Neo nodded her head, then made a small sound of impatience at herself for how used she was to being incapable of speech, "Yes. She wants to stir up as much fear and uncertainty as she can. Once everyone is tempted out of their homes for the festival, she'll strike. Cinder wants to attack when the city is at its fullest, and draw in as many grimm as she can from around Vale."

"And the virus?"

Roman spoke up, "To gather information on what plans Ozpin has up his sleeve, and so she can give him an ultimatum... Give her what she wants, or watch the city burn."

"Do you know where Cinder is now?"

Roman and Neo both shook their heads, with the previously mute girl being the one to speak up first, "Cinder said she'd get into contact with us through the White Fang. She knows you're all after her, and wants to remain in the shadows for as long as possible."

Violet tapped her chin in thought while leaning back against the countertop behind her. The two of them had long since retreated into the confines of the bathroom to speak freely. Violet had gone so far as to encase the door's knob with ice, forcing it shut so that none could interrupt them unannounced, "We'll have to draw her out somehow… I'll get into contact with the Headmaster so that we can put a strategy together. We may be able to give her false information with the virus to draw her out, then take her by surprise…"

"Well, whatever you do, know that Dum Dum and I have got your back~" Neo said playfully, giving Roman a wink while he attempted to sputter in protest.

"We will do as much as we need to, Neo. Returning your voice to you will hardly matter if we're dead."

"About that," Violet interjected before Neo could reply, the short girl's face growing heated while staring in defiance at Roman, "Don't mention what I did to anyone. It isn't exactly something that's… in the regular arsenal of a maiden. I'm not sure how I did it, and would rather avoid any unnecessary questions because of it. Deal?"

Neo shrugged, "Your friends have never heard me speak before now, but that could have been for any number of reasons… I'll have to pretend to still be mute around the help. If word gets back to Cinder she might grow suspicious."

Violet nodded her thanks, "That's good enough for me. Keep in touch about any developments on your end, and I'll give you the jist of what we're doing on mine. I'll warn you beforehand on anything that's about to go down."

Neo pondered her words for a moment, then raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to tell your friends?"

"I'll have to. They'd crucify me if I kept them in the dark anymore than I already have. I… don't want to betray their trust again…"

"Well, even if they abandon you, you'll always have me~" Neo raised up on tiptoe to peck Violet on the cheek, then rocked back down on her heels with a grin, "I can't ever thank you enough…"

"Help us take down Cinder, and you can consider us even," Violet chuckled, feeling the mark on her cheek where Neo's lips had been, "Take care of yourself, eh?"

Neo beamed and spun on her heel, skipping to the door while speaking over her shoulder, "I think I'm going to go do something that I've always wanted to, but never could~"

"And what's that?"

Neo stopped at the door, placing a hand close to it and waiting for Violet to let the ice melt away. Her semblance activated, sending a pink cascade of glass fragments across her form to return to her employee appearance. She glanced back over her shoulder once it did, a delighted smile reaching all the way up to the glimmer in her eyes, "I'm going to go sing karaoke~"

With that, the small murderess excused herself from the room, and Violet was left as the sole occupant, sitting and staring off into space in thought. She brought a hand up to rub across her face and sighed, 'I was expecting her to go a bit off the rails, but this…?'

Without Roman and Neo's help, Violet had little hope that they would have kept up with the random attacks across the city. White Fang and Paladins, working in tandem to cause as much wanton mayhem and destruction as possible. It was truly disheartening to think that there were enough disparaged faunus for such a plan to be brought to fruition.

Ironically, the only portion of the plan that hadn't totally gone off the rails was the train from Mount Glenn. 'We'll have to head out there regardless and put a stop to it early. We can't afford to have a hole opened up in the middle of the city while the walls are getting attacked as well,' a two fold assault like that would end up being catastrophic in terms of casualties. Vale's defenses weren't at all capable of remaining intact while being stretched so thin, even with Ironwood's assistance.

Violet only had time to hear the pounding of footsteps before the door was wrenched open, followed immediately by Yang's head darting in to take a look around the room. Her eyes instantly fell on Violet, widening in relief to see she was alright.

'Whoops,' Violet checked the time on her scroll and realized the movie must have ended, leaving Siren and the rest of her team clueless as to where she'd gone off to. Her scroll started to buzz, vibrating in her hand. A quick check of the caller ID showed it to be Weiss, the Schnee snowflake dominating the center of the screen.

Violet put a hand to her chest, grinning at Yang, "Aww, you do care~"

"Of course I do, idiot!" Yang practically growled out. She leaned back out of the doorway, calling loudly, "Found her! She's fine!" then stepped into the bathroom and let the door swing shut with an ominous thud, glaring at Violet while cracking her knuckles, "But not for long~"

Violet snorted in laughter, holding her hands up, "What, a girl can't use the restroom?"

"A girl? Sure," Yang scoffed, crossing her arms angrily and lowering her voice, "A maiden that we're all supposed to be keeping an eye on? Not a chance," she shook her head with a sigh, "At least none of our enemies got to you…"

"Ummm," Violet averted her gaze up towards the ceiling tiles and scratched her chin, "about that..."

Ten minutes later, the group was currently walking back along the street to Beacon, all of them surrounding Violet like her own personal brigade. She opened her mouth to protest, but was immediately silenced by the glare that Ruby sent her way.

"You're lucky we haven't put you on a leash," Weiss said angrily, sparing Violet with her most bone chilling stare.

"We could at least get her a bell," Blake tacked on with a huff of disappointment.

"Et tu, Blake?"

"What?"

"Nevermind," Violet did her best to meet their gazes with a calming one of her own, "Neo and Roman want to help, you guys. It isn't my fault if someone stalks me to the bathroom. What was I supposed to do?"

"Get someone to come with you and wait outside," Ren answered instantly. It was followed by a series of nods by the rest of the group, all of them agreeing with the very simple solution he'd provided.

"I mean, sure… You were all enjoying the movie, though."

"Hmm, you're right. A few minutes of a movie is definitely worth as much as your life. Why didn't we think of that before?" Weiss rolled her eyes, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm beginning to think we can't trust you to ever be alone."

Violet raised her hands, "Whoa there. That's a bit too far."

"Who volunteers for guard duty?" Ruby perked up, looking around the group.

"Guys, really-"

"I usually get up pretty early," Yang spoke overtop Violet, "And we're in the same room already. I can volunteer for first watch."

"Who wants to take second watch?"

"That's not-"

"I'll take the second watch," Blake interjected, "Yang and I usually go to the gym, so Violet will just have to tag along while we go."

"But I don't want to workout-"

"Third watch?"

"Nora and I can take that," Ren answered, "We have breakfast around that time, so Blake and Yang will have to drop her off at our dorm before we leave."

"That should keep us covered until classes start. We can trade watch each day in between class periods. Who wants to take lunch?" Ruby continued to dominate the conversation, readily ignoring the sputtering protests that Violet failed to interject.

"I'll take over during lunches," Weiss spoke up haughtily, "If she tries to wander off then I can use one of my gravity glyphs to hold her in place."

"Oh, good idea~" Ruby agreed happily, "What about you, Penny?"

The ginger girl eyed Violet sideways, noting her obvious distress, but firmed with a nod, "General Ironwood instructed me to remain by her side. If necessary, I will offer my assistance during all times of the day."

"This is just ridicu-"

"Stop being selfish!" Ruby shouted. She realized what she'd done and backtracked slightly, some remnants of her social anxiety getting the better of her in the aftermath of the heated moment, "I mean…"

"Selfish?" Violet frowned in bewilderment, "What's selfish about not wanting to disturb any of you while you're having fun? That's the complete opposite."

Blake spoke up, giving Violet a knowing frown, "Selfish might not be the right word, but... I sometimes think we care more about your well being than you do, Violet… or rather… You care so much more about ours in place of your own safety..."

'Well, of course… I've lived more lives than I can even remember. Why would I care about whether or not 'Violet Regalia' ceased to exist?'

Violet of course couldn't exactly come out and say that, so instead gave a small shrug, "Is it so wrong to care about others?"

"When you'd rather risk your life than interrupt someone else having fun for a few minutes!? Yes!" Ruby finally pulled herself back together after Blake had helped to pick up the pieces, "You can't just go wandering off. What if they'd had bad intentions?"

Violet scoffed, "Then I would have frozen her in place?"

"What if she got the drop on you? What if there was someone with a semblance that could take you out before you had a chance to do anything? You would need your teammates by your side!"

Violet raised her hands in defeat, "Alright, alright. You win, Ruby. Happy? I won't wander off on my own," she frowned, "But I'm not accepting guards."

"Ummm…"

"Except you, Penny."

"Yay! This is most agreeable!"

Violet raised an eyebrow at Ruby, seeing the desire to argue still struggling across her features, "Take it or leave it, Little Red. I don't want my friends time with me to become a chore. Where's the fun in that?"

"I mean, it would be like practice for an escort mission, though…"

"Escort missions are the worst ones, Ruby."

"Alright, fine," she pouted, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms to look away, "As long as you're more careful about having other people around…"

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before it was broken by Pyrrha, turning her head back from her place near the front of the group to eye Violet, "So, what did… 'Neo'? Want?"

"To help us catch the half maiden," Violet replied simply.

Eight sets of eyes swivelled to regard her with various levels of disbelief and doubt, the entire group managing to slow as it did so.

Yang nodded firmly, "It's a trap."

Muttered agreement followed from everyone else.

"I am one hundred percent certain it's not a trap, you guys. I know when someone is lying to me, and Neo wasn't lying. Neither was Roman. They both want out from beneath Cinder's heel."

"Cinder?"

"That's the half maiden's name. Cinder Fall, though her last name is definitely fake. They shared all they could about her plans…" Violet leveled them with a pair of determined eyes, "The things she's going to do… We have to stop her."

Violet divulged everything that the two criminals had told her, starting with what all they knew about Cinder, which wasn't much, and then about the strategy she was going to use to try and divert attention away from the maiden's defenses.

"We have around two months to try and stop her," Violet finished with all she had to say by the time they arrived at the bullheads. The rest of the group climbed aboard in mostly shocked silence, disbelieving that anyone would go to such disturbing lengths in their desire for power. Violet knew them all well enough by now. While many had ambition, none of them were starved for it.

"What do we do first…?" Weiss asked quietly, searching Violet's eyes for the answer to her question.

"Well, I believe a certain faunus bookshop owner is supposed to get out of the hospital tomorrow," Violet couldn't help but glance over at Blake as she said it, "And while the airline was understandably pissed about the gaping holes that Coco put in their ship, I think I can talk them into it again. A lot of Cinder's plan is based around the White Fang. If we can get Sienna Khan on our side, then we might disrupt her plans before they even have a chance to really begin."

"And what if Sienna agrees with what they're doing?" Weiss asked vehemently.

"Blake?"

The ex-White Fang member rubbed her arm nervously, "Sienna fights for equality, but even more so for survival. If the White Fang gets blamed for helping to kill off an entire city…? How would that look for us, the faunus? It would only end up turning the humans against us even more than they already are…"

"Bingo," Violet gave Blake a wink and turned back to Weiss, "Earning the ire of every other nation is hardly in the White Fang's best interests. Adam has gone off the rails completely. There's no way he's still following anyone's orders other than Cinder's," she raised a hand with three fingers and began lowering them with each step of the plan, "Blake's dad and Tukson convince Sienna, Sienna comes to Vale along with some of her own White Fang members, and they put a stop to a terrorist cell that's acting out of line," she dusted her hands together as if to say, 'that's that'.

"And what if Adam doesn't want to fall back in line?" Yang asked, sparing Blake a quizzical glance, "Is Sienna strong enough to take him down?"

"It…" Blake frowned, pondering the question in her head before giving a minute shrug, "Adam always admired her, but he really does seem to have fallen further than I ever would have thought possible. If it came down to a fight… I think Adam would win in the end. Sienna is a competent fighter, but Adam was always the best."

"Do you think she'd allow an escort?" Ren asked, "Or would she see that as a threat?"

Blake shrugged, "I could try and vouch for a small group to go with her and the rest of the White Fang. The more faunus in it, the better…" her eyes fell on Violet, "... and I think she'd be able to tell how sincere you are about wanting to help us."

"Vi is quite the talker," Yang agreed with a firm nod of her head. She raised it to the rest of the group, "So, what are we doing tomorrow, then? We can't really afford to take another free day off like today with so much weighing on us."

A few glances darted in Violet's direction, and she sighed, "We still need to go to your dad's house, Yang. All of team Vibrant will, and Qrow should be there, too."

Yang frowned, looking to the members of her team, "Is that really important right now?"

Blake and Ruby fell into an uncomfortable silence, so Violet was forced to take charge once again. She placed an arm around Yang's shoulders as the bullhead docked on top of Beacon cliff, and led the two of them out onto the tarmac ahead of everyone else, "It is, actually. You'll just have to trust me."

"But-"

"Nope. No questions. That's what trust is all about, isn't it?"

"I mean-"

"Alrighty then," Violet smirked as she interrupted Yang once more, giving her a playful nudge sideways to show that she was only teasing, "now that's settled," Violet peeked over her shoulder to the rest of the group, "How about we all get some sleep? Plenty for us to do tomorrow. I'll let Ozpin know that some of us will drop by in the morning so we can fill him in on what happened with Roman and Neo."

They all agreed and headed up as a group to their dorm rooms. The teams wished each other goodnight and went their separate ways. Violet closed the door and stood in front of it, looking at the rest of her team while they went about getting ready for bed. She was beginning to drift off in thought when a voice that was far too close surprised her.

"So, where am I sleeping?"

Violet jumped upon realizing Penny was standing next to her, watching the rest of team Vibrant the same as she had been. She managed to calm herself, placing a hand to her chest and letting out a deep breath, then frowned, "Ironwood didn't set aside a room for you?"

"Ummm…" Penny paused in thought for a few seconds, scouring her memory banks for anything of the sort, before turning back to Violet with a cheery smile, "Nope!"

Violet shook her head with a sigh, "Leave it to Ironwood to forget the small details while staring at the big picture," she waved for Penny to follow her back out into the hall and led her to one of the unused dorms closer to the stairs. With a tiny dip into her omnipotence, she unlocked the door as she twisted the knob, making it seem as if it hadn't been locked in the first place.

A quick flip of the lightswitch revealed the four unused beds, sitting fully loaded with sheets, blankets, and pillows. Violet snagged a blanket and a pillow off one and handed them to Penny before using her semblance and hefting one of the mattresses. Even without any weight, it was still awkward to carry.

"I won't be sleeping in here?" Penny asked in confusion.

"How will you watch me from here?" Violet answered her question with one of her own, then stepped back into the hall and gestured for Penny to close the door behind herself. The blanket dragged along the ground, one side clutched to her chest along with the pillow in her arms.

"Could I not have simply shared a bed with one of you?"

Violet laughed, "I wouldn't have minded, but Blake might have gotten the wrong idea," she eyed Penny sideways, "Ruby, too… It's just better this way for now. We'll set up your mattress on the floor next to my bed until tomorrow. We can ask Ironwood where he wants you then."

They reentered the room and Violet went about getting the mattress situated. Ruby and Blake were both already in bed, while Yang was making some final bedtime preparations with her hair. The mattress was set down next to Violet's bed, with a six inch gap so that the team leader wouldn't have to walk across Penny's bed if she needed to get up for something.

Penny gingerly placed the pillow down atop it, then studied Ruby for a moment before crawling on top of the mattress and pulling the blanket overtop herself, tucking the sides beneath her body the way Ruby had. She lied perfectly straight, hands brought up to her chest to hold the edge of the blanket away from her face and looked up at Violet.

Violet smirked, "Hope your comfy down there."

"Oh, this is most comfortable," Penny agreed.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked from above, frowning down at Penny.

"Very!"

Ruby shrugged with a smile, "If you say so."

With a rueful shake of her head, Violet changed into her own pajamas and crawled into bed. Yang finished up with her hair and turned the bathroom light off. With a questioning glance to the rest, each confirmed that they were ready, and she shut off the bedroom light as well before making her way across the room.

Violet heard a muffled, "Thanks, Blake," in the dark, and figured the cat faunus must have stopped the blond from running into something.

Violet sighed contentedly, turning over to face the wall and shutting her eyes calmly. As nervous as she'd been about trying to keep everyone safe, it really seemed like things were going their way. Ironwood, Winter, Penny… now Roman and Neo. Their forces were only growing more by the day. If they could manage to add Sienna to that list, and maybe even come to an agreement with the White Fang after Adam's cell was taken care of…

'Things really are looking up for the better. If Cinder isn't careful, her entire plan will unravel into pieces before her very eyes...'

A cold, dead wind swept across a twisted landscape. With it was carried the piercing shrieks of Nevermores that dominated the sky. Across the entire land lay nothing. Not mere death, but the nonexistence of life itself. Shades of purple cascaded throughout, enormous towering crystals basking the land in a dull radiance. Even the sky and clouds above were bleached this color, tainted by the very lands they rose above. Only the moon itself remained unblemished, a shock of white that did not belong in the lands of the grimm.

It was at the moon itself that Salem gazed. She stood within her throne room, staring out the large glass windows in thought. The moon's gross incandescence was a constant reminder of the hell her life had become. Despite all her efforts…

'It appears another one of my projects shall fail…'

The Cinder girl, a child she had raised, groomed to be one capable of obtaining the power of every maiden for herself, trained by Salem personally and given every advantage she could… All of it had gone to waste.

'Cinder is not the first… and she will not be the last.'

Salem's mind continued to wander, bits and pieces of the report the young half maiden had given her dribbling to the surface. Cinder's two henchmen had failed, both defeated in their attack against a single opponent. From the way she'd spoken of their skills, they had sounded competent.

'Ozma was lucky to have found another so capable…'

Was it time to move past her plans for Vale, and concentrate on the other relics instead? No matter what Salem said, now that Cinder had obtained half of the maiden's power, she doubted the girl would be willing to leave without the rest. It had left a burning hunger in her chest, a desire for said powers to be complete once more. Even with the girl being as loyal as she was, the temptation would be too high.

'The Relic of Knowledge is ripe for the taking, if only we knew where the Spring Maiden resides.'

Leonardo had been weak. A simple, incompetent man that had fallen low at the mere sight of Salem's personage. The singular threat of death had driven him over the line and into servitude, 'A pity the maiden disappeared before then.'

With the Relic of Knowledge, Salem would have had all the time in the world to learn of Ozma's weaknesses, and of his secrets. Where and how to access all of the relics, the current locations of each maiden, how best to devise her plans; all would have been at Salem's finger tips. Time did not matter to her, even more so than Ozma. While she remained in her one form, he was forced to start fresh with each lifetime, a parasite that transferred from host to host, refusing to be eradicated.

Instead, her plans had been forced to shift towards what she was capable of in the moment. Namely, trying to relieve the wizard of another relic under his care, 'And my, how that plan has spiralled into nothing… nothing but wasted effort.' Perhaps Cinder would be successful against all the odds against her. Either way, Salem would claim her victory. A victory.

'A consolation prize…'

Vale would fall. She would make sure of that much. Whether or not the relic was taken, whether or not Cinder managed to acquire the second half of the maiden's powers and rejoined her side, it mattered little to her anymore.

Salem stared out over the horde of grimm waiting to begin their journey across Remnant, the tiniest of smirks threatening to work its way across her lips.

'Even if all else fails…'

'Ozma will once more be forced to begin anew.'

Gosh, what a hectic week. Sorry for the later than usual upload, but here it is. Looks like there's more on the horizon that our goddess needs to be worried about, but is currently oblivious to given the foe that has been set before her.

Thanks for reading,

- Sybaen